The invention relates to a switching device for a rear fog lamp of a vehicle. More particularly, the invention relates to a device which prevents undesirable reflections of light from the vehicle rear fog lamp from a front surface of a trailer coupled to the vehicle and checks the operability of a rear fog lamp of the trailer.
It is generally known that a rear fog lamp of a vehicle can be switched on and off by a switch arranged in the vehicle near a dashboard.
If a trailer can also be coupled to the vehicle via a trailer device, and if this trailer likewise has a rear fog lamp, then a plug connection may be made between the fog lamp circuits. Accordingly, when the rear fog lamp of the vehicle is switched on, the trailer rear fog lamp will also light up. At the same time, however, there can be undesirable reflections from the rear fog lamp of the vehicle into the vehicle interior via the front wall of the trailer, for example a caravan.
It is desirable to prevent the driver's rear view from being impaired by the reflection of the intense red light on the front of the trailer when the rear fog lamp of the vehicle is switched on. In German Published, Unexamined patent application No. 2,908,517, a switch component is mechanically activated when a trailer plug is inserted into a plug socket on the vehicle, thereby interrupting the current path to the vehicle rear fog lamp. Thus, when the switch for the rear fog lamp is switched on, only the trailer rear fog lamp lights up. However, should the trailer rear fog lamp fail as a result of a defect, there is no longer any functioning of a rear fog lamp at all.
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a device which, when a vehicle is driven with a trailer, prevents undesirable light reflections, at the same time allows a check of the functioning of a trailer rear fog lamp and, if the trailer rear fog lamp is defective, maintains the functioning of a rear fog lamp of the vehicle.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.